Lifestyle physical health/fitness thread

"average exerciser" I'm assuming refers to someone who hasn't followed any sort of serious exercise program. Yes, you can do both as someone who is beginning to get into a lifting program, but that won't last forever. And 2.2% muscle increase in 6 months is almost not even worth it, especially if you goal is "improve my musculature, increasing muscle mass and decreasing what little fat I don't need superficially". If you're goal is mostly to get stronger or put on muscle, it's much better to just do it the right way instead of trying to achieve everything at once. If you're looking for a quick fix, you might as well not even bother.
 

Stallion

Tree Young
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"average exerciser" I'm assuming refers to someone who hasn't followed any sort of serious exercise program. Yes, you can do both as someone who is beginning to get into a lifting program, but that won't last forever. And 2.2% muscle increase in 6 months is almost not even worth it, especially if you goal is "improve my musculature, increasing muscle mass and decreasing what little fat I don't need superficially". If you're goal is mostly to get stronger or put on muscle, it's much better to just do it the right way instead of trying to achieve everything at once. If you're looking for a quick fix, you might as well not even bother.
You are thinking from the perspective of a power lifter, bodybuilder or just a guy in general. In case you don't remember, this was in regards to Fishy's goals. She is a woman, she is looking to stay petite and put on a little bit of muscle. Even small gains would be noticeable due to such a low bf %. Not everyone wants to be a power-lifter dude, but your advice seems geared to a "one size fits all" mentality when it'd probably be more suited to give to someone like me. I don't think putting on fat to get more muscle is really an option for a girl, unless she was a bodybuilder lol.
 

Lee

@ Thick Club
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I actually can't argue with any of your post popemobile except perhaps average exerciser =/= beginner and maybe pointing out that these sort of studies are usually done at piss poor intensity so somebody else could probably see more than a 2.2% increase. But anecdotally speaking I have never done a cut before but have 9~% body fat and a high enough muscle mass to be creeping my way towards an obese classification on the BMI scale so I find it difficult to swallow that muscle gain/fat loss are mutually exclusive. judging by her last post fishy seems to be in the right frame of mind and has a regimen in place so i'd just let her at it and see where she stands after a few months before proposing something as potentially radical as a bulking/cutting program (which I've never ever heard of a non-bodybuilder female doing)
 

Venom

red eyes no visine
is a Team Rater Alumnus
Fishy, you get to your goals, lifting weights isn't really necessary.

I kinda understand what you mean when you say you want to "tone up". What you need to do is pretty simple; eat on a calorie deficit and the best exercises that will benefit you are body weight exercises, such as Lunges, Squats, Push Ups, all that good stuff. The reason why I'm advising Bodyweight exercises over lifting weights is because you don't need to build all that muscle; you're a female. I've seen a lot of girls that get really nice bodies doing good dieting and exercises like this at home. You will not be putting on muscle with this but you will be losing body fat while not looking anorexic. Just keep in mind, the exercise that you will benefit the most from are SQUATS, girls and squats are hot.

always stay safe; never run outside with an iPod.
I lol'd after I looked at your location.
 
goddamn, just googled "pistol squats" which lead me to a youtube video… i want to do THAT.
I do pistol squats* on the daily and girls tell me they love my ass. seriously, I cannot think of a better exercise to do regularly other than maybe the pull-up, but for girls I think the pistol is even better than the pull-up. Just do it. start on a bench or some stairs and work your way down. once you can do a full one on both feet, start working your way to reps. you won't regret it.





*well, my bastardized heel-lifting version, since I am not flexible enough to get all the way down with my feet flat, and depth > flatness
 
Ok so my question to Nosferalto, popomobile and anyone else that posted/feels so strongly against the word "tone" is this: why? Please expand on your posts instead of posting 1 or 2 lines that do nothing to inform, and only put down anyone with a similar goal to fishys.

Please remember that this thread was created to not only be a friendly and encouraging environment for people of all levels in fitness, but ALSO A PLACE TO LEARN. so please do expand and give real and informative responses when you see someone post a goal or something that you feel is a waste of time or outdated. I encourage you to even go a step further and suggest what you feel is the better and more current/proven way to go about achieving his or her goals. What I don't want to see are people picking other people fitness goals apart or putting anyone down for the reason that is basically "you sound like a noob and don't know what you are doing". If you can't take the time to explain yourself, then don't bother posting that 1 or 2 lines that only bash others and thier goals. That post will be deleted the moment I see it in the future
if you have fitness goals, have realistic ones, don't come into a thread expecting to get informative posts about your goal to become "more toned" or "i want to gain 20 pounds of muscle and lose 40 pounds of fat in a month". telling all of the people that post in this thread that "toning" is a myth is in-itself learning anyway, so i don't get your point.

99% of people come in with unrealistic goals. the first step into getting in better shape is having realistic goals. the means to get a better body is the same for guys and girls anyway, its the same calories formula on the most basic level. a lot of the advice that's already been given is solid anyway, but if you want my two cents, most people hate lifting and think its the only way to look lean. you get your diet in check and you dont have to lift a single thing in your life to look lean
 
I'm a Strength & Conditioning Consultant at my college's rec sports facility. I am trained. I can answer all of your questions <3



(lol jk Strength & Conditioning Consultant is just a fancy way of saying "someone that just answers simple questions and can perform cpr/whatever if he needs to")
 
if you have fitness goals, have realistic ones, don't come into a thread expecting to get informative posts about your goal to become "more toned" or "i want to gain 20 pounds of muscle and lose 40 pounds of fat in a month". telling all of the people that post in this thread that "toning" is a myth is in-itself learning anyway, so i don't get your point.

99% of people come in with unrealistic goals. the first step into getting in better shape is having realistic goals. the means to get a better body is the same for guys and girls anyway, its the same calories formula on the most basic level. a lot of the advice that's already been given is solid anyway, but if you want my two cents, most people hate lifting and think its the only way to look lean. you get your diet in check and you dont have to lift a single thing in your life to look lean
basically this, but lifting is always a good idea for anyone looking to get in better shape/healthier/bigger/leaner/whatever
 

Ninahaza

You'll always be a part of me
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
if you have fitness goals, have realistic ones, don't come into a thread expecting to get informative posts about your goal to become "more toned" or "i want to gain 20 pounds of muscle and lose 40 pounds of fat in a month". telling all of the people that post in this thread that "toning" is a myth is in-itself learning anyway, so i don't get your point.

99% of people come in with unrealistic goals. the first step into getting in better shape is having realistic goals. the means to get a better body is the same for guys and girls anyway, its the same calories formula on the most basic level. a lot of the advice that's already been given is solid anyway, but if you want my two cents, most people hate lifting and think its the only way to look lean. you get your diet in check and you dont have to lift a single thing in your life to look lean
ok first of all where is this person that said he/she wanted to gain 20 pounds of muscle and lose 40 pounds of fat in a month? while i agree with you, i think you should re-read your own post, re-read my post and then read what of the thread so far that you can. again, whiles i agree with you completely, i have not seen anyone wanting to get toned with unrealistic goals. when someone uses the word "tone", i just automatically place them in the "cutting" half of the fitness book. and until someone comes to me using the word "tone" and expecting to put on some serious muscle AND lose some serious weight (or "i want to gain 20 pounds of muscle and lose 40 pounds of fat in a month" as you put it), then i wont dismiss their goals out right on the basis of "toning is a myth, etc etc". the first step plenty of people need to do is actually listen before applying their own knowledge to help. for many people getting into shape is brought about by some sort of emergency, aka there is something coming up in a month i want to look good for or summer is around the corner. i am not going to dismiss something like toning out right if they are not even looking for a serious program that will require months of exercising and patience.

Obviously i wont encourage someone to start a fitness goal with toning as their foundation, but the aggressiveness towards this one word is something that really took me by surprise. my little brother saw my progress and wanted to tone up basically. do you know what i did? i put him on a calorie deficit. yeah thats not toning, but it was such a small one that he wouldn't notice drastic weight loss. and still eating a good amount due to it being a small deficit, coupled with the fact that he would qualify as a beginner, the potential for putting on muscle at the same time even on that deficit was pretty damn great. had he stuck to it, he would be looking pretty damned great right now, and eventually i would have slowly transitioned him into a better/actual cut and then he would be bulking with me now. i hate to think how different things could have gone if he had spoken to someone that would just have heard him say the word "tone", and then offer him such a one sided view of things as yours and basically force him into choosing between just 2 options from the getgo.

if someone wants to tone up, and as long as their expectations/goals do not cross the lines of reality with that, then who are you to stop them? in fact if they are serious and stick to it, then they will soon want more and come to the realization that they have to go on a calorie surplus or deficit depending on what that "more of" is. so toning becomes a spring board into a better life of fitness, great. better than forcing something on someone and turning them off to exercising, because we all know how easy it is. in fact when starting out we look for reasons not to exercise, whether we know it or not.

i think DM and stallion put it best
I really don't see how you see fat burning and muscle building as 100% mutually exclusive activities. That just isn't reality. It is entirely possible to build lean muscle while you're cutting down, I do it all the time. If you want to build SERIOUS muscle, the the kind you're obviously concerned with, then yes, you'd better have a bulking diet planned.
You are thinking from the perspective of a power lifter, bodybuilder or just a guy in general. In case you don't remember, this was in regards to Fishy's goals. She is a woman, she is looking to stay petite and put on a little bit of muscle. Even small gains would be noticeable due to such a low bf %. Not everyone wants to be a power-lifter dude, but your advice seems geared to a "one size fits all" mentality when it'd probably be more suited to give to someone like me. I don't think putting on fat to get more muscle is really an option for a girl, unless she was a bodybuilder lol.
 

Venom

red eyes no visine
is a Team Rater Alumnus
basically this, but lifting is always a good idea for anyone looking to get in better shape/healthier/bigger/leaner/whatever
yeah but we're talking about a female in the current topic. she's trying to get in better shape and you're saying it's not possible to accomplish it if shes not lifting weights? retarded.
 
yeah but we're talking about a female in the current topic. she's trying to get in better shape and you're saying it's not possible to accomplish it if shes not lifting weights? retarded.
since you can't read, here's what she actually said:

this is what I want to do to my body: I want to improve my musculature, increasing muscle mass and decreasing what little fat I don't need superficially. granted, that's not very much, so I'm mostly going for stronger and more defined muscles!!!
so yeah lifting weights would be the best way to do this

and even if she was just trying to get in "better shape", lifting weights, yes even heavy lifting, would likely accomplish that better than any other method. I didn't say it was the only way, but I am saying it is the best way. You don't turn into the hulk overnight by lifting, especially if you're a woman.
 

Lee

@ Thick Club
is a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus
no takesies-backsies, Nos!

so today I did 30 minutes weighted calisthenics, cycled 30 miles and did 90 minutes powerlifting at the gym followed by some auxillary work before bed. And this is me 4-5 days a week. Gonna start attending a kettlebell class next week, at least until I've soaked up enough expertise on the subject to fly solo.

full journal by the end of the week probs
 

Ninahaza

You'll always be a part of me
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Lol Lee.

Anyways. I am chatting in PM with popomobile about this whole toning argument/mess, and i can't really argue or even counter his points. Honestly, as someone who never had a goal of toning (see my weight loss thread, the plan was always to do one at a time when it came to losing the weight, AND THEN focusing on putting on some muscle) as well as someone who wouldn't recommend toning to a person as I said in my response to ToF. I was always on the side of the very peope I am arguing with in this thread. Maybe that's why I couldn't counter popomobile in our PM chat, but the aggressiveness at the mere mention of the word toning is what ultimately put me on the opposing side in the current argument in this thread.

I will follow lee's lead and just move on from all this, but before doing so I'll leave what my honest thoughts on toning are. I think that exercising in general is never a waste of time. Doing something is better than nothing, and the benefits of exercise, even when gone about the wrong way, are numerous. That is ultimately the only reason I don't consider toning a complete waste of ones time. But at the same time, toning, in the long run, is as close to wasting your time trying to achieve a fitness goal as you can get. It is obviously better to take the amount of time you intend to give yourself, and then split that time between focusing on one thing at a time as far as losing weight/bodyfat and building muscle goes. Now how much time you give which will depend on a few things, but yes, those are my thoughts. Maybe I am too soft, but I still wouldnt consider toning and what it stands for a myth, and I sure as hell woulnt show such aggressiveness in it's presence. Let's also keep in mind that not too long ago a lot of what we now know to be false or "not the best" were things that even top professional bodybuilders swore by. The human body is an amazing machine and we are still discovering it's actual capabilities the more we push it past it's limits.


Alright now it's time for me to follow lee's lead and move on, and I hope you guys do as well.
so today I did 30 minutes weighted calisthenics, cycled 30 miles and did 90 minutes powerlifting at the gym followed by some auxillary work before bed. And this is me 4-5 days a week. Gonna start attending a kettlebell class next week, at least until I've soaked up enough expertise on the subject to fly solo.

full journal by the end of the week probs
Man, lee, how is one man supposed to do all that and call it a regular day? But I guess when you surpass the status of man and enter the realms of being a lee, then regular normal working out isn't enough.

I usually do 30 minutes of solid intense cardio and 90 minutes of heavy lifting in a day. I am thinking about starting my "just dance" goodtimes back up. That game has been collecting dust for a while now and I am itching to do some Rasputin, hey yeah and several ass shaking songs. The problem is time of course. I look forward to your report and pictures lee. I know I am just starting my bulk, but man can I not wait to share my progress in the future.
 

DM

Ce soir, on va danser.
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Today is P90x Chest & Back for me, day 1 of week 3 (day 15 overall). My hip is a little sore because I have done a tiny bit of legs the past two weeks on the Legs & Back day, but nothing one-legged and nothing that puts too much strain on the joint. I still do no cardio, too, but I have been very good about my nutrition and my results are already showing. Arms more defined, chest and shoulders a little bigger, abs flattening. I just wish I could work dem legs :pirate:
 

reyscarface

is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusdefeated the Smogon Frontier
World Defender
starting to get really really sore from hardcore football training, this new league is so much more different and intense than the past one that im slightly lost. this is mainly going at lee and stath as they are the masters of running but any help is appreciated. even though i like to consider myself in good shape, i have very shitty stamina. like VERY shitty stamina. I can only play one half of an intense game at full power, because then i just literally cant run at my max and i start jogging. the advise ive been getting irl has been shit so ill have to ask you pros about it.

so: how do i get better stamina. i think i have pretty good stamina, just not the level theyre asking me to achieve in this league. everyone seems like they have a never ending gas tank (might be because they all are a few years older than me) and as such id like to reach such level, if not now, for the future.

also ive started to feel sore in my feet joints after running for long long periods of time (actually this was a few weeks ago so it might be getting better, for example today i dont feel any soreness) and im afraid it might be something bad. it seems like its just general soreness from the intensity but asking just in case.

cheers for any help, really need it. cant shine if i can only play half a game!
 

DM

Ce soir, on va danser.
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What you eat goes a long way toward stamina as well as training. How many calories are you taking in daily? What do you eat the day/morning before a game? You need to take in enough healthy calories so that you don't crash during the game.
 

Venom

red eyes no visine
is a Team Rater Alumnus
since you can't read, here's what she actually said:



so yeah lifting weights would be the best way to do this

and even if she was just trying to get in "better shape", lifting weights, yes even heavy lifting, would likely accomplish that better than any other method. I didn't say it was the only way, but I am saying it is the best way. You don't turn into the hulk overnight by lifting, especially if you're a woman.
Since you apparently can not comprehend what the fuck is going on, let me break it down to you right quick;

fishy's goals:

-get lower body fat
-have a bit more than just bones

your goals:

-turn her into a fucking bodybuilder

catching on now? yeah, she won't turn into a fucking hulk overnight, but is it really necessary for her to lift weights when her goals can be accomplished a little bit easier? She doesn't need to lift weights to accomplish a low body fat, nice body. she doesn't need to be squatting 90 pounds along with a 45 pound barbell to get the results you think she wants. For a woman, simple diet and body weight lifting workouts are enough. There is no point in really her lifting weights if shes going to be stuck in one weight for a long ass time, there is literally nothing productive about that. A literally no reason why she should be lifting weights when she can achieve similar results with simple bodyweight exercises.

About my progress: been putting an ice bag on my bad knee for the past few days after the recommendation of my coach, and very surprisingly it's been working out pretty badass. Today I went to train twice a day, once in the morning and in the evening, total hours spend training: 6, getting complimented on how you have made progress twice as fast as the average jiu jitsu white belt: priceless.
 

reyscarface

is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusdefeated the Smogon Frontier
World Defender
What you eat goes a long way toward stamina as well as training. How many calories are you taking in daily? What do you eat the day/morning before a game? You need to take in enough healthy calories so that you don't crash during the game.
3.5k to 4k a day, fluctuates a bit. Sometimes I go under sometimes I go over, dont really have a specific diet (should probably get on it, i started one not long ago and got bored of it after like 2 weeks).

as lunch its always steaks / beefs / foods with big amount of proteins coupled with salads.

games are mostly at night in this league so my breakfast doesnt influx too much on that, but before games i dont eat a whole lot because im scared of feeling bloated during it. maybe thats what im doing wrong, good catch and cheers for the swift response!
 

Fishy

tits McGee (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
oh my goodness, why on EARTH is anyone still talking about me in this thread

this is precisely what i am doing

i've got the squats on lock venom, don't worry

and there is weight lifting in the sculpting portion of the regimen, fancy that! also work with resistance bands, which are probably my favorite exercise tool.

now everyone can be happy knowing exactly what i'm doing and doesn't have to freak out about it anymore!! (though i didn't start exercising today like i planned, because i suck. tomorrow, yesterday's today)

also bojak i'm not sure who is more annoying after a while, this leandro guy or tony… probably tony since he's so goddamn full of himself in each video, while leandro is just over-exhuberant and portuguese in each video that he comes off as annoyingly endearing??
 

DM

Ce soir, on va danser.
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3.5k to 4k a day, fluctuates a bit. Sometimes I go under sometimes I go over, dont really have a specific diet (should probably get on it, i started one not long ago and got bored of it after like 2 weeks).

as lunch its always steaks / beefs / foods with big amount of proteins coupled with salads.

games are mostly at night in this league so my breakfast doesnt influx too much on that, but before games i dont eat a whole lot because im scared of feeling bloated during it. maybe thats what im doing wrong, good catch and cheers for the swift response!
Protein isn't what you should be eating a lot of before a lot of exertion: it isn't really a source of energy, but rather you should be having it AFTER the game to build back up the muscles you just spent all that time breaking down. If anything, you should be carb-loading the day before games (in a healthy way, mind you; don't eat a loaf of Wonderbread) for all that good energy. My high school football team had a Thursday night team spaghetti dinner every week before Friday games for a reason!

also bojak i'm not sure who is more annoying after a while, this leandro guy or tony… probably tony since he's so goddamn full of himself in each video, while leandro is just over-exhuberant and portuguese in each video that he comes off as annoyingly endearing??
lol I actually have never seen a BBL video, but I've seen short little clips of Leandro and I'm not sure I could put up with him for more than a few minutes at a time. Tony is a huge tool, but I've gotten to the point where I know every word by heart so I barely even listen
 

Chill Murray

get well soon jacoby..
I started playing hockey in a local recreational league recently, and I decided that I wanted to work out a bit in order to become a better player. A google search turned up this workout, which I've started this week. Some things I'll have to improvise (no push/pulldown machine so I've been trying to simulate the movement with dumbbells), and I'll likely be doing more cardio than what is listed, but so far it seems like the workout will help me get stronger in the areas I'd like to be stronger in.

I also have another goal to reach: I slap bet my brother I could beat him in arm wrestling by Thanksgiving. Neither of us have worked out much before, and he barely beat me when we arm wrestled before the bet, so it'll be interesting to see how that bet motivates the two of us.
 
if you want to just "tone" then yeah, just do bodyweight you shoudl really only do heavy lifts if you wanna get buff, which i assume you don't!

also, do a bunch of cardio to tone because you lose a lot of weight doing cardio: i recommend running
 

Ninahaza

You'll always be a part of me
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
i just came from the gym after heavy drinking the previous night. i felt like shit throughout most of the day, and this being the first time i've ever gone in for my workout after a night of drinking, i honestly hope to never be in this situation again.

Man, i dont know how you love drinking so much and work out so much as well lee. i know you guys are probably thinking "yeah its unpleasant, but its just a mentality thing. its all in your head just gotta push through it". but no, fuck that
 

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